Bridge
was destroyed during July flooding

(Southampton)
New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Jack
Lettiere joined with Assemblyman Francis Bodine, Freeholder Vince
Farias and other Burlington County officials this afternoon to
announce the completion and opening of the new permanent Route
70 Bridge over the Friendship Creek in Southampton Township.

"Route 70
is a vital East-West corridor through Burlington County, and carries
a significant amount of shore traffic from the Philadelphia area.
Quickly replacing the bridge with a new permanent structure was
a top priority and I am proud to say we got it done," said Commissioner
Lettiere.

NJDOT crews
and contractors worked around the clock immediately after the
bridge was washed out to construct a temporary bridge within one
week. Installing the temporary bridge so quickly and completing
the entire permanent bridge within 4 months were both significant
accomplishments for NJDOT.

The Route
70 Bridge, which carries the highway over the Friendship Creek
near Holly Boulevard in Southampton Township, collapsed in July
due to severe flooding in the area following a major rainstorm.
Commissioner Lettiere immediately closed Route 70 in Southampton
and announced that a detour had been set up to divert traffic
around the collapsed bridge until the temporary structure was
in place. In addition, Governor James E. McGreevey declared a
State of Emergency in Burlington and Camden Counties in response
to widespread flooding at the time.

The new bridge,
constructed by IEW Construction Group of Trenton, NJ and owned
by the NJDOT, provides for one lane of eastbound and westbound
traffic, as the original Route 70 bridge did before the flood
damage. The entire project cost approximately $6 million. Roughly
14,000 cars (both directions) pass over the Route 70 bridge each
day.